We finish chapter 4 of Acts with Peter and John returning to the disciples. At this point, the group was still relatively small. They could have reacted to the formal warning sent down by the Sanhedrin in fear, but that was not part of God’s plan. I am actually very proud of what they did as a response. Since they were told not to do something they went ahead and did it anyway because they knew it was right.
This is also a great place that provides an example of the power of prayer. Currently, this is an encouragement to me because I need more examples to the power of prayer. The disciples chose to seek God and His council first instead of cowering in fear from an earthly power.
31After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. – Acts 4:31
This is the response we need to have when faced with adversity. God’s kingdom will advance either because of us or despite us. When presented with an obstacle that obviously goes opposite of what he intends it is our duty to resist that obstacle in any way possible. That is what the disciples did here. Through their faith they moved the kingdom forward and were empowered by the Holy Spirit. This gave them the initial strength to face even more challenges ahead.
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